Vengence of The Black Panther Er Tiger
by IFallLikeLeavesAndSnow
Summary: Just what did Kishan do for 300 years? Here's one possibility.


Vengeance of the Black Panther . . . Er, Tiger!

A/N: Just what _did _Kishan do for three hundred years? Here's one possibility, enjoy.

-TC-

_When you're human_, Kishan thought, padding silently through the underbrush, _the jungle is a dark and dangerous place at the best of times. When you're a tiger, things are a little bit different._ The ground in front of him exploded as a deafening noise rang out.

_They're so much worse_. Abandoning stealth, he tore through the forest, the thudding of his paws muted by the pads that allowed him to move in near total silence. The thick vines, leaves and detritus parted before his bulk, as the sound of his pursuers echoed behind him. One might wonder why a tiger was running from a man, but the reason is simple. Working out the nuances of a new body takes time, concentration, and preferably a manual, Kishan had none, so he was left to work things out on his own, which had led to mixed results. One thing that wasn't included in these mixed results was the ability to use extend his claws.

That still left his teeth, but as it turns out, he was rather finicky about getting anything stuck in them, vines, dirt, people, it's all very messy. There was of course one final factor, Kishan, unlike most wild tigers, knew exactly what a gun was and how it worked. Specifically, he knew how much it would hurt to get shot with one.

In theory.

A theory which he had no desire to test. So, instead of using the incredibly powerful muscles he now possessed to smash the hunter's bones into kindling and matchsticks to use on said kindling, he used them to run. As much as hunters might like to claim that they know the jungle, its inhabitants know it better. For example, even as a newly made tiger, Kishan knew the perfect place to hide. He might not have been able to use his claws to cling, but he could still use his legs to jump. The branch held, and he leaped towards another, landing on his feet the way only a feline, or a man in a feline's body can. The hunters ran by underneath, venturing deeper into the jungle, taking the occasional shot. Eventually, the crack of the guns and the yells of his pursuers died away, and Kishan relaxed, the tension leaving his form.

_That was close_ he thought to himself _it's a good thing they didn't look up._ That thought sent something in his mind spinning _it's a good thing they didn't look up_, he thought again, and a Cheshire Cat's grin stole over his face, which on a tiger just looks like a snarl, and is therefore fucking terrifying. Kishan dropped to the forest floor and began making his way back to his current residence, a comfortable rock next to a waterfall. When he arrived he settled down on his rock and continued to ponder, even as he grew drowsy. His last thought before sleep were _they didn't look up_.

-TC-

Two months later, the hunters had returned, but this time, Kishan was ready. To be fair, he wasn't actually sure that it was the same group that had been hunting him before, in fact he was reasonably sure that two of them had been eaten by ants and one by a rather large snake, but that's beside the point. They were here, they were hunters, they were _prey_. Kishan stopped to think about that for a moment, _well that was creepy_, he thought, before shaking his head. It was time to test his skills. During the two months he spent training, he had finally figured out how to extend his claws, and today was the day he found out just what they could do. The hunters were making a comparable racket while marching through the jungle, though Kishan was sure they thought themselves stealthy. Like the last group this one seemed to be comprised of three members, two at the front and one guarding their rear, _he_, Kishan decided, _will be the first to go_.

Settling on his perch he crouched low, waiting, patiently _One must be patient, one must remain calm and still, without making a move for a very long time, or else one will go __**hungry**_, Kishan quirked his head _What is _wrong _with me?_ He wondered, before setting his attention on the men about to pass beneath him. Shifting his weight silently, he prepared to strike. _There's one_ he thought _and there's the other aaaannnndddd, got you!_ He cried in his mind, his claws extending as he reached down and plucked the hunter from the ground. The man was stunned, and gazed fearfully into the Kishan's leering face, which, again, because he was a tiger, was absolutely terrifying. With a heave of his powerful shoulders, he hurled the hunter out into the jungle. _If he screams, I'll get him before he warns them_ he thought. But the hunter was silent. _Guess he's smarter than the others_ Kishan thought (In point of fact he was not, when thrown he had hit his neck against a branch and had crushed his trachea. He was then promptly swarmed and devoured by ants who had a symbiotic relationship with said tree).

The other hunters looked back, and discovered that their party member was gone. "What happened to George?" One of the asked, peering into the foliage.

"I don't know, but we should probably turn back, we need at least three to take down the target."

"Feh, what are you talking about, George was a pansy, we don't need him."

"Don't be a twit, it's a tiger, we can't take it lightly."

"Oh relax Bob."

"I will most certainly not relax"

"Listen just- what was that?" A few feet to their left, they heard a snap, a few seconds later, it came from their right.

"Come on Thomas, we have to turn back now."

"No, I'm not leaving, it's the tiger, I know it is." Bob gave his friend a look.

"What do you mean you _know_, this is the jungle, it could be anything! It could be a panther, it could be a snake, it could be _a _tiger, but not _the _tiger!

"No, I know it is."

"How?"

"I can feel it in my bones."

"Fine then, stay, I personally, am going to take my bones back to civilization before _something_ gnaws on them!" And so saying, Bob turned on his heel and went back the way they had come.

"Fine!" Thomas yelled "Go on, who needs you, I can do this on my own!" Continuing on his way, the snaps continued to echo around him. Soon after they were followed by thuds, and then heavy breathing. Slowly, a pattern began to emerge. First a snap to the left, then the right, then one behind, then one ahead. Then thuds for a few seconds behind, then right, left, and finally in front of him, and then it repeated. All the while, the heavy breathing pervading the air.

"Gotcha" he said to himself with a grin. He waited, through the pattern, once, twice, three more times, and then he jumped to the left, gun leveled at nothing. He felt the air behind him shift "clever girl" he muttered, even as he felt the claws sink into his skin. As he was flung through the air, he heard the tiger roar. For whatever reason it sounded suspiciously like "I'M A MAN!"

-TC-

The decades and centuries passed, and Kishan continued to practice and train. He eventually worked out how to keep his teeth clean and devoid of bits, and he began hunting wild game. Hunters began to fear entering his part of the jungle, and those that did still declined to look up. That all changed one day, when instead of a group of hunters, a mob of people fearing the "black demon" came to his part of the jungle with weapons and torches. Kishan promptly ditched his area and his title of protector of the jungle, and made his way to another area he had scouted out months before. This time, he kept to himself, and didn't engage the few hunters that neared this part of the jungle. And so he spent fifty years, merely living, working out how to do all sorts of things that a tiger really shouldn't be capable of. All was quiet in the jungle, which despite the progress of man, was still wild and free. And then one something changed. In an instant, he felt himself go from tiger to man. Kishan smiled as he stood on two legs naturally for the first time in three hundred years. "Well, well, well Ren" He said with a grin as he checked himself over. "Things just got interesting." With a laugh, he turned towards the waterfall.

And then he fell. "Ow" Kishan muttered "I guess trying to walk on two legs after three centuries of doing it on four is a bit of an issue. I bet Ren doesn't have this problem, Kadam probably taught him how." Shifting back into a tiger was easy, and when he was once again clad in black fur, he continued on his way.

_If someone's broken part of the curse, then Ren will be coming for my part of the necklace._ Kishan grinned, which, once again, as a tiger looks _fucking terrifying_. _If my little brother is coming, _he thought, _then I better get things ready_.

With a gleeful roar, the black tiger vanished into the jungle.

-TC-

Aaaaaaannnnnddddd that's it. This prompt came from the hilarious Antonella Inserra from Chezapocolypse, and I'm posting it about one recap too late. Yeah, that was because of . . . reasons. Reasons and things.


End file.
